§ Mr. Butterfillasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the extent to which the proposed revisions to the LAUTRO rule book permitting pension quotations to be made in both monetary and real terms (a) may lead to investor confusion and (b) will permit investors to make an adequately informed choice between competing products; and what observations he has received on the above proposals from the Director General of Fair Trading.
§ Mr. MaudeNo assessment of any proposed rules of the Life Assurance and Unit Trust Regulatory Organisation (LAUTRO) has been made because LAUTRO has yet to submit an application to become a recognised self-regulating organisation under the Financial Services Act. When it does so, it will be for the Securities and Investments Board to determine whether LAUTRO meets the criteria for recognition laid down in the Act, including whether its rules provide investors with at least equivalent protection to SIB's own rules. The Secretary of State will however have to be satisfied that LAUTRO's rules are either not significantly anti-competitive or are no more anti-competitive than is necessary for the protection of investors. In reaching this decision, the Secretary of State will have regard to a report on the effect on competition of SRO's rules which the Director General of Fair Trading will be making.